Effects of biochar application on soil greenhouse gas fluxes: A meta-analysis

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Author(s)
He, Yanghui
Zhou, Xuhui
Jiang, Liling
Li, Ming
Du, Zhenggang
Zhou, Guiyao
Shao, Junjiong
Wang, Xihua
Xu, Zhihong
Bai, Shahla Hosseini
Wallace, Helen
Xu, Chengyuan
Year published
2017
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Show full item recordAbstract
Biochar application to soils may increase carbon (C) sequestration due to the inputs of recalcitrant organic C.
However, the effects of biochar application on the soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes appear variable among
many case studies; therefore, the efficacy of biochar as a carbon sequestration agent for climate change mitigation
remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of 91 published papers with 552 paired comparisons to
obtain a central tendency of three main GHG fluxes (i.e., CO2, CH4, and N2O) in response to biochar application.
Our results showed that biochar application significantly increased soil CO2 fluxes ...
View more >Biochar application to soils may increase carbon (C) sequestration due to the inputs of recalcitrant organic C. However, the effects of biochar application on the soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes appear variable among many case studies; therefore, the efficacy of biochar as a carbon sequestration agent for climate change mitigation remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of 91 published papers with 552 paired comparisons to obtain a central tendency of three main GHG fluxes (i.e., CO2, CH4, and N2O) in response to biochar application. Our results showed that biochar application significantly increased soil CO2 fluxes by 22.14%, but decreased N2O fluxes by 30.92% and did not affect CH4 fluxes. As a consequence, biochar application may significantly contribute to an increased global warming potential (GWP) of total soil GHG fluxes due to the large stimulation of CO2 fluxes. However, soil CO2 fluxes were suppressed when biochar was added to fertilized soils, indicating that biochar application is unlikely to stimulate CO2 fluxes in the agriculture sector, in which N fertilizer inputs are common. Responses of soil GHG fluxes mainly varied with biochar feedstock source and soil texture and the pyrolysis temperature of biochar. Soil and biochar pH, biochar applied rate, and latitude also influence soil GHG fluxes, but to a more limited extent. Our findings provide a scientific basis for developing more rational strategies toward widespread adoption of biochar as a soil amendment for climate change mitigation.
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View more >Biochar application to soils may increase carbon (C) sequestration due to the inputs of recalcitrant organic C. However, the effects of biochar application on the soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes appear variable among many case studies; therefore, the efficacy of biochar as a carbon sequestration agent for climate change mitigation remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of 91 published papers with 552 paired comparisons to obtain a central tendency of three main GHG fluxes (i.e., CO2, CH4, and N2O) in response to biochar application. Our results showed that biochar application significantly increased soil CO2 fluxes by 22.14%, but decreased N2O fluxes by 30.92% and did not affect CH4 fluxes. As a consequence, biochar application may significantly contribute to an increased global warming potential (GWP) of total soil GHG fluxes due to the large stimulation of CO2 fluxes. However, soil CO2 fluxes were suppressed when biochar was added to fertilized soils, indicating that biochar application is unlikely to stimulate CO2 fluxes in the agriculture sector, in which N fertilizer inputs are common. Responses of soil GHG fluxes mainly varied with biochar feedstock source and soil texture and the pyrolysis temperature of biochar. Soil and biochar pH, biochar applied rate, and latitude also influence soil GHG fluxes, but to a more limited extent. Our findings provide a scientific basis for developing more rational strategies toward widespread adoption of biochar as a soil amendment for climate change mitigation.
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Journal Title
Global Change Biology Bioenergy
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Authors. Global Change Biology Bioenergy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Note
This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.
Subject
Environmental management
Agricultural biotechnology
Climate change impacts and adaptation